Großhesselohe Bridge

Monumental constructions – with the involvement of MAN

The building of bridges was and is a complicated matter. Bridges used to be built from wood, rope or stone. With the start of the railway era, many bridge structures had to be reconsidered. MAN successfully participated in this. Here, you can find some famous bridges which were constructed with the involvement of MAN.

The oldest railway bridge in southern Germany

After six years of construction, the first "railway viaduct" over the Isar at Großhesselohe to the south of Munich was completed in September 1857. This makes it the oldest railway bridge in southern Germany.

Second highest railway bridge in the world

At the time, the Großhesselohe Bridge was the second highest railway bridge in the world. It was 258 metres long and is now the oldest railway bridge in southern Germany. The tracks were 31 metres above the lowest water level of the Isar. The bridge attracted attention due to its special design: The supporting structure resembled the bodies of fish and was used for the first time on the suggestion of the Director of the Bavarian Railway Construction Commission, Friedrich August von Pauli.

484 tonnes of wrought iron and 135 tonnes of cast iron

Five months before the first test journey on the bridge, Johann Friedrich Klett & Co, Nuremberg, a predecessor company of M.A.N., started the assembly of the iron bridge structure. In total, 484 tonnes of wrought iron and 135 tonnes of cast iron were used in the building work. The M.A.N plant in Gustavsburg built in a second set of tracks in 1908/1909 and MAN changed the supporting structure to semi-parabolic girders. In 1983, the bridge was demolished and replaced with a new one at the same location.